if you smoke, would you smoke outside the hospital, in your nightwear?

[waikikamookau]

cos I am shocked whenever I walk by, virtually every day, with all and sundry sitting in their pyjamas.
have they no shame.
what I would do? get some proper clothes on for god's sake,

[Sallystyle]

I no longer smoke but when I did I would happily smoke outside in nightwear.

[CoteDAzur]

I used to smoke but there is no way I would wait outside a busy public building in my pyjamas, smoking or not.

I'm with OP on this. If you are well enough to walk and smoke, you are well enough to put on yoga pants at the very least.

[ChestyNut]

flanbase let's not turn this into another of those I'm holier than thou and shall judge who is worthy of healthcare threads

[combinearvester]

I once had a cigar outside maternity/antenatal whilst sporting a visible bump, hooked up to a drip and in my pyjamas.

I had just been told my (very) early labour could not be stopped and the baby had no chance of survival. A cigar was all my SIL could find for sale in pub nearest hospital.

Despite the sad circumstances I had a little smirk to myself at all the judgey bastards who were falling over themselves to tut and tell their friends. If only one of them had felt the need to say something to me directly I could have made myself feel even better by sticking my drip stand right up their hoiked up pants.

[TheChaoGoesMu]

'How totally selfish of you to have not a thought for others. Shocking'

Really? Oh dear. Maybe I should rethink this then.

Ok, rethought it. I still dont give a shit.

[pictish]

Have done yep.
I don't really give a toss who's tut tutting me. Mind your own business.

[crashdoll]

As I was the one to start it, the reason why I don't like seeing smokers in their pjs outside a hospital are for 2 reasons:

1.) I just think it's sad for them, they look vulnerable and unwell. I would never tut or judge them smoking. Who knows what they are going through?

2.) I feel that other ill people have the right not to walk through the smokey entrance when this particular hospital has benches and undercover areas not too far away to smoke in peace. I do judge those who won't move to the smoking areas in my local hospital, it's really not that far away!

[Shakey1500]

I have yes.

If the smoking ban had not been forced upon us and there had been some opinions sought/vote/respect then there may still be a designated smoking room inside the hospital where all smokers could happily indulge in their perfectly legal habit. Then there'd be no need for them to congregate outside. Sure they'd resemble a large prison cell but that's only fitting for filthy smokers right?

Incidentally when I was in a psychiatric hospital in 2006 there was a designated room. May have changed since then. Far more civilised.

[TheBigJessie]

I never understand these threads. Tobacco is an addictive drug.

What do people think "addiction" means? It does not mean "ooh, i could fancy a piece of cake now". It means being "addicted".

[MummytoKatie]

Stoic I think what people are objecting to is that you think that people should go through a different entrance to avoid smoke rather than maybe people who want to smoke (on a no smoking site) moving far enough out of the doorway so people can get through.

At our local hospital I have been to three entrances in the last few years all of which had smokers clustered round - the main entrance, A&E and maternity.

For maternity there is no other way in. It's hard enough to get through the maternity entrance. (Dh dropped me off, went to park the car then poor bloke spent 20 mins ringing the bell and panicking before they let him in.)

For A&E - you can also go through the main entrance but it takes much longer. Which is not ideal considering what A&E is for. Plus the main entrance also has smokers.

For Main Entrance I guess you could go in another entrance but I don't know where they are. And the hospital is set up so that you are pretty much funnelled into the main entrance unless you are very sure of where you are going.

I don't think anyone is saying that you did the wrong thing with helping your mum to smoke. It sounds like a horrible situation.

Just that you need to have some empathy for others who are also going into the hospital, maybe even more scared/upset than you and should not be subjected to a huge cloud of smoke.

[EleanorFarjeon]

I dont care if people want to smoke outside the hospital, or what the wear to do so.

But I don't want to walk through the smoke or have it waft in when the doors open. This I object to.

[Latara]

I have had to stop a man on his way out of the ward to have a fag because his gown was open at the back so you could see his bare bum. He didn't care! Some men don't.

I've known patients get wheeled downstairs for their last cigarette before they died.

If it made them happy then why not?

[QuinionsRainbow]

Our local hospital has a complete no-smoking rule everywhere on the site - hence smokers congregating just outside the entrance for their fix. Even sitting in your car in the (expensive) car park for a drag is taboo - and a disciplinary offence for a staff member.

[EeyoreIsh]

But why can't smokers be given nicotine patches when they're admitted to hospital?

Or am I missing the point, as a non-smoker?

[flanbase]

Stoic your mother should have smoked somewhere that was not available to to other people. I find it so selfish that people had to walk through the trail of pollution your mother was making. I don't want to walk this tobacco smoke no matter who is producing it. If you want to smoke then do it somewhere you do not ruin the health of others.

[hedgehogpickle]

meerkat They don't strictly enforce non- smoking on hospital sites as they know some people are going to do it anyway and if they were too militant about patients doing it on hospital grounds, those people would just be lighting up in the loos or (as once happened where I worked) behind the cubicle curtains on the ward, next to her oxygen mask! Far greater risk of fire which puts other people at risk.

What always annoyed me more than people smoking outside was patients expecting members of staff to wheel them down for a fag!

[HollyBerryBush]

Whats your problem with people smoking in pyjamas?

Most of the girls round here use pyjamas or onsies as the fashion >classy area< along wit fake uggs, all tabbing away.

Until it is illegal to smoke in an outdoor environment, I suggest all the precious people find an alternative route to their destination. You cant have it all ways.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

You do know stoics mother passed away recently flan?

Do you really think what you are doing is appropriate?

[flanbase]

Smoking is a known health risk and here is no safe level involved. People who smoke should not be allowed to ruin the the health of others by smoking in public places. For non a&e nhs healthcare it should be available to non smokers only

[VerySmallSqueak]

FFS flanbase this is all a bit hysterical,no?

[crashdoll]

Holly "I suggest all the precious people find an alternative route to their destination."

I agree with you, except when it is by a main hospital entrance. Smoke doesn't bother me nor my medical condition but it may affect others.

[TheChaoGoesMu]

Smoking is a known health risk and here is no safe level involved. People who smoke should not be allowed to ruin the the health of others by smoking in public places. For non a&e nhs healthcare it should be available to non smokers only

Well unfortunately for you, smokers pay into the system too. So we have the right to the healthcare we pay for. And, as its a free country I will smoke in public places if I so wish.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

Ruin the health of others?

Exactly how much damage will it do walking through 3 seconds of smoke once in a blue moon?
Or are you at the hospital going through the huge cloud of smoke every hour, every day for years?

What about alcoholics? Overweight people? People who do not get enough exercise? People with high blood pressure due to stressful lives? People with heart problems or diabetes due to a poor diet? Are they all to be denied nhs treatment.

What you said to stoic about her mum is wrong on every level given the circumstances.
It's a good job that lack of compassion and understanding is not something that requires nhs treatment.

[TattyDevine]

When I had my first child, he was in SCBU and I had had a C-section of the worse kind (emergency one where he was really stuck and in distress they had to butcher me a bit to get him out quickly) so I was feeling fooked. I was trying to establish breastfeeding and couldn't walk 2 floors and along a long corridor without major discomfort, but could never get a wheelchair because the c-section smokers kept using them

Maybe they needed them more than me! Midwives didn't give a toss so they must have.

Addiction of any kind is a bitch and a curse though.